I Once Was Loveless
by littlegypsy25
Summary: A story of the greatest romance, that was never told enough. G/L ~*Movie Spoilers*~ FINISHED~
1. When In Roma

Hey everybody, I'm not updating here, just editing, for both the good of the story and for the Sully Van Alter Ego Awards. YEAH!  
  
--  
  
Favorite Fluff Favorite Romance Favorite Overall  
  
LittleGypsy25  
  
Littlegypsy25@hotmail.com  
  
PG  
  
--  
  
Anyway now that that's done...  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah I'm poor, I own nothing.  
  
I Was Once Loveless  
  
Chapter 1: When In Roma  
  
He watched as she smiled, her blonde head shaking, moving slowly towards the camera's blinding flashes, the babble of Italian calling her,  
  
"Lizzie! Over here!"  
  
"Smile!"  
  
"Lizzie!"  
  
"Lizzie!"  
  
He shook his dark curly head. Her name was on everyone's minds, but he had been thinking of her the longest. How long ago had he fallen for her deep brown eyes, her soft blonde hair? The smell she always had, like vanilla with a touch of cinnamon. How many times he'd held her against his small, skinny frame, wishing that she returned that touch the way he wanted her to, as more than just her best friend?  
  
His blue eyes, brilliant even in the dim evening light, blinked quickly, he wanted to absorb as much of her as he could. He loved to look at her, and now he could stare without anyone noticing.  
  
"Lying is below you, Mr. Gordon." Came a voice behind him, "Even if it is for your best friend."  
  
"I know, I'm a spinelessly brownnosing jelly fish with a hidden agenda." He looked over at Miss Ungermeyer, a surge of guilt jetting through his stomach. "I know, I got it."  
  
"But you lied for something good." She smiled, at his surprised face, "Little Miss Diva over there filled me in on the details, turns out you're a pretty good friend Gordon, and that gets you off my list. Just think; we got the next four years together." She clinked glasses with him and then walked over to the buffet, in her normal swaggering stride.  
  
He let out a sigh, four years with Lizzie too, but what would happen in those four years? What would happen after them? He was tired of living in the wings, standing to the side, being the best friend no one noticed. But how was he supposed to change it?  
  
Gordo turned, leaving his glass on the table, and headed toward the elevator, perhaps hiding out would give him some time to think. He turned to hit the button but suddenly whipped around, as he heard the first set of doors re-open themselves,  
  
It was Lizzie.  
  
"One more sneak-away for old time's sake?" she asked, flashing her normal bright smile.  
  
"Sure" he nodded, his stomach lurching with nerves and happiness all at once. Lizzie hit the button next to him, leaning against the opposite wall of the tiny elevator.  
  
The walked up the dimly lit stair well, illuminated by a low green light, and walked into the cool June evening, a view of Rome before them, a field of stars above them.  
  
"Are you going to miss it here?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Yeah, Kate says I should just ship all my stuff over, because it won't be the same without me.  
  
"Well as usual, she's wrong."  
  
"Really...you think?" she twisted a strand of blonde hair around her finger.  
  
"Trust me, you had it in you all along." He answered honestly,  
  
"Yeah, I guess I did." She leaned against the thick stone rail, her eyes skimming the soft sparkly Roman lights, and suddenly, as she glanced over at her best friend, she lost it, she wasn't sure how, but she saw those eyes, perfect blue, the mop of hair, the smile that made her knees go weak...  
  
"Gordo?" she whispered, something fluttering through her stomach.  
  
"What?" he could barely get the word out; she leaned over, grabbed his chin carefully, and kissed him.  
  
She let go a few moments later, awkwardly, looking at him for a second, and then glancing away.  
  
His nerves surged, he didn't know what to say but he finally got the word, "Thanks..." out rather nervously, and she replied very warmly,  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
He bit his lip, a lip that had just brushed with hers, her soft lips that he dreamt for so long of kissing, of working up the guts to just do it...but he never had.  
  
"You think we should get back to the party?" he asked, still nervous, waggling his thumb in the direction of the door. "We don't want to get into anymore trouble."  
  
"Yeah, and trouble is something I can't afford to have any more of." She turned to leave, but he glanced out one more time, trying to soak in every last minute of this...every perfect second.  
  
--  
  
The courtyard smelled softly of garlic and oregano, as a minstrel strummed quietly in the corner, it was like being transported back a thousand years.  
  
He glanced at her again, reaching for her hand; he wanted to make sure she was still there, that this was still real. It couldn't end, not yet.  
  
She looked over at him for a second, feeling the color rising in her pale cheeks. His hand fit just right in hers. Why did it take her so long to notice?  
  
Kate was sitting, she noticed, across from Ethan, smiling, and chatting with him, in a kind, NICE sort of way. She looked up suddenly though and saw Lizzie enter the sleepy atmosphere, and noticed the dizzy smile on her face. She grinned at Ethan and pointed.  
  
Their hands were locked, as they clung close to each other it seemed, like in a minute one of them was to be pulled away forever.  
  
"Way to go Gordon, my man." Ethan muttered, and sent a smile Gordo's direction.  
  
He didn't notice however because the McGuire family had gotten up from their photography session, then grabbed a table, and they were then beckoning Lizzie and Gordo to join them.  
  
She let go reluctantly of his warm palm and sat down next to her mother, Gordo on her other side. Under the table though she reached for his hand again, just so glad to be holding it, just so glad that this was right, everything was right for a change.  
  
Mrs. McGuire smiled at Lizzie, and realized the way she kept glancing over, the way her right hand and his left hand were both missing for the tabletop, and she couldn't help but to laugh to herself. Lizzie was so beautiful, she'd grown up so much, and Gordo, she didn't mind Gordo being the one. Jo had known him before he could crawl; he was like a third child. Gordo was always there for Lizzie, and Mrs. McGuire always wanted a boy that would treat her daughter the way he did.  
  
Secretly she'd always fancied the idea of them together. Gordo was the kind of kid ever mother wanted for her daughter. He was smart, good- mannered, respectful...not to mention the fact that David Gordon would never dream of hurting Lizzie...or putting a move on her for that matter.  
  
Lizzie glanced up suddenly at her Mom, noticed her smile and laughing eyes, and mouthed the words, 'I love you...thank you.'  
  
Jo could feel the tears welling up, oh God...her baby, she was so grown up...she was in love with a wonderful boy...and just...everything felt so incredibly scary.  
  
Then through the sweet evening air came music, three new string players had joined the minstrel, as well as a man with an accordion, and soft sounds of romantic Italian worlds gone by filled the little courtyard. Couples got up here and there, dancing in a cobblestone paved area. Lovers together with arms around each other, heads leaning on shoulders, hands intertwined.  
  
Gordo looked up, "Would you like to dance?" he asked softly. He didn't even care that there were people around, or that Mr. McGuire was looking right at him. It didn't matter, because all he saw was Lizzie.  
  
She nodded, as he helped her up from her seat. The walked over to the many others, as she put her arms around his shoulders, his hands resting on her small waste. This wasn't the first time they'd danced together, but she got closer to him, and, fortunately her shoes were low, and she could rest her head on his thin shoulder, the soft smell of Ivory soap filling her nose.  
  
"Lizzie..." he murmured.  
  
She lifted up her head and looked into those pools of blue. "What?"  
  
"I just want you to know..." he paused for a moment, worried over her reaction, "I love you. I don't know how long, I don't know if you feel the same, but I do..."  
  
It was his turn; he leaned in and brushed her soft lips, seeing fireworks explode, over his head, the midnight sky filled with dancing colors.  
  
She leaned away and looked up, but her attention was drawn to his face, "I love you too. Not just like, I really do love you."  
  
He smiled, "I'm glad." And he kissed her again, longer more passionately, not caring what anyone else said or did, all it matter was that she loved him, and he hoped the whole world knew...because he wanted them too.  
  
When the song ended, he took her hand, and they weaved through the crowds, walking to a private table, and after pulling her chair out, he sat down, feeling as if he had been taken to heaven.  
  
There was no need for talking, words failed them both, they knew, after fourteen years of friendship what the other was thinking.  
  
Lizzie was thinking of that, 'fourteen years of friendship', would it lead to the next four years in love? Would it last...longer?  
  
He smiled reaching over for her white hand, and felt like the world was just right...even for a moment...it was perfect.  
  
--  
  
"Do you want the window seat this time?" He asked.  
  
"No, I can sleep on your shoulder again." She answered sweetly as he sat down, in the grey cloth airplane seats. "I still can't believe that I did that..." she giggled. Gordo thought for a moment of that long fourteen hour flight, of her struggling to find a way to sleep, him lucky enough to have a wall to rest his head. She had nothing, and struggled in disgust with her pillow, the yellowish golden one, with the silky edge. He'd stolen that pillow every- time he slept over, just because it smelled like Lizzie's hair, like a combination of fresh cut roses, and lilacs. He felt bad for her, their blanket laying over the two of them, both sort of squashed into the little seats.  
  
And then finally, he'd drifted off, into a half-uneasy slumber. But somewhere his head fell, right on top of that bed of lilacs and roses, the blonde strands right on his cheek for a moment. But it smelled so perfect, and he wanted to be next to her so much, and his head just leaned over, perched on hers, a blonde braid falling down his shoulder, where she had finally found sleeping comfort.  
  
He looked back up at her, as she put her things on the compartment above, before relaxing next to him, a wide smile on her face. For a while they just sat and talked, or they listened to music, sharing each others CDs...Gordo making faces in disgust to a burned track of "Oops I did it again!"  
  
Ungermeyer was seated behind them, her nose buried in 'Jane Eyre' when she glanced over at the seat in front of her own, she saw them asleep, head's rested so simply, Lizzie on his shoulder, Gordo on her blonde tresses. The looked so perfectly cute, and she sighed.  
  
"There is a reason those two are so close, they are so happy to be with each other, no matter what."  
  
She put away the troubled heart-aches of her Bronte classic, and closed her eyes, dropping off into her own sleep world like everyone else.  
  
Lizzie stirred softly, for no particular reason, and could see a soft outline of a nose and face above her, she jiggled her head on his shoulder and drifted away again thinking of how her life used to be before she understood how she felt for Gordo.  
  
But she realized now, that her life before, without this, without that love...it was never a life at all.  
  
--  
  
More to come soon folks! Stay tuned.  
  
Yes I'm still working on "I'm With You a Best Friend and More"  
  
Jenny 


	2. I wish I had better hair

Well...just doing some more edits...  
  
THANKS FOR REVIEWS!!!  
  
Chapter 2: I wish I had better hair.  
  
The door of her room was open, and he saw her standing, a troubled look on her face, her blonde hair crimped from fifteen long hours in braids.  
  
"Lizzie!" he hissed.  
  
She looked over, startled to see him, but excited too.  
  
"Lizzie come on!" she walked out into the hallway, as he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a small green lit enclosure, the door that he'd opened shutting quietly behind them.  
  
"Gordo...wh-?"  
  
She couldn't finish the word, because he put his finger to his lips and said, "Shhh, come on, it's okay, I have something to show you."  
  
There they were, crushed in that little landing, and he would have given anything to reach over, and kiss her. But he didn't, because he was just as Ungermeyer said, he lacked a spine.  
  
He clutched her hand, helping her up the stairs, and out onto the balcony, twinkling lights before them, a dreamy panoramic view of Rome at sunrise.  
  
"Oh my God..." she murmured, leaning against the rocky balcony ledge. "It's beautiful." Something was stuck in the back of her throat, this was so...there were no words, it was like being in a painting, the cool morning wind, the soft sounds of music floating up, and the colorful dark portrait before her. It was all so perfect.  
  
Gordo smiled, wanting to put an arm around her thin shoulders, but he didn't...because he was spineless.  
  
"Gordo..." She looked over at him. "Promise me something."  
  
His heart leapt, he would have done anything for her, "Anything."  
  
"Promise me, that while we're here, we'll find..." she paused, searching for the right word, "Promise me we'll find adventure."  
  
He was looking into her brown eyes, and suddenly he was thinking just how he wanted to kiss her again, but he didn't want to even trust those feelings, what if she didn't feel the same way?  
  
"Adventure...sounds good." He answered as they hit the bottom of each others fist against one another.  
  
--  
  
He looked over at Lizzie, her head still resting on his shoulder. They had about four more hours till they got home, and he was taking time to think over every moment on the trip that had pointed him towards his feelings.  
  
He smiled, she was always pretty even when sound asleep.  
  
"Make a wish..." he saw Lizzie's face smiling at him, a golden Euro coin in her outstretched palm.  
  
He smiled, that time he done something right...  
  
"I'm in Rome with my BEST friend, I'm good. You make one."  
  
And then she'd turned away, smiling so happy, and tossing the coin over her shoulder, after thinking for a second.  
  
I wonder what she wished for, he'd mused, as he looked at her face glowing in the Italian sunshine.  
  
Gordo shook his head, then Paulo had showed up, and ruined the whole trip. He was so charismatic, taller, and older. With perfect hair and a perfect smile, it was obvious that Lizzie had fallen head over heals for him.  
  
"You know..." he saw her enter the courtyard, he was sitting at a metal table, a book of Rome open in front of him, a glass of soda next to it. "This Paulo/Isabella CD isn't that bad. If you're into the whole 'Alanis Morrisettey - black-grunge- my life is a giant-black hole, never-get-out- into-the-sunshine' you'd think they stink. But for riding in a convertible with the top down-while applying your lip-gloss, lovin-life kind of thing' you're set!"  
  
She carefully turned one ear piece out and he leaned in, to listen,  
  
~*~This is what Dreams are made of...~*~  
  
He should have been listening to the soft, popish, music coming out of the speakers...but he couldn't, all he could do was smell that scent of vanilla and cinnamon...  
  
"You use scented soap don't you?" he said without thinking.  
  
Lizzie pulled away with a laugh, "What?"  
  
"Nothing...nothing." he pulled away from her, insides churning in disgust with himself.  
  
She dropped the silly smile and said very seriously, "Paulo wants to meet me by the Trevvi fountain tomorrow."  
  
"So...go." Gordo urged her.  
  
"But that would mean I'd have to sneak away from the group."  
  
"So...?"  
  
"Yeah, but Gordo, that will never work since I'm completely incapable of sneaking." Her face getting that nervous eye-twitchy thing, which it always got when she was afraid of something.  
  
"I'll cover for you." He responded instantly, turning into his normal best- friend mode.  
  
"Yeah, but Gordo, we promised we'd find adventure." Lizzie answered exasperatedly.  
  
"And we will." He answered.  
  
"Yeah Gordo, WE. WE'LL find adventure"  
  
"So...there will still be plenty of adventure after this, you just get dibs on the first one." He could feel his stomach wriggling at this suggestion, if he convinced her, then she'd spend the whole day with an internationally famous pop-star...  
  
"Well...okay as long as there is nothing to get us shipped on a plane back home."  
  
A thought popped into his head, "Lizzie, are you feeling okay?" he asked, and reached over to feel her head.  
  
He'd helped her sneak out those days, watched in horror as she'd ridden through the streets of Rome, sitting behind Paulo on that little red Vespa. It made him want to die every time he watched them, they looked like they were having the time of their lives.  
  
That first day, after she'd nearly been seen by Ungermeyer, after he had to completely cover for her when the Vespa was caught behind the wagon load in a skinny back-alley, making HIM look like a total idiot...  
  
He'd been sitting in his room, wondering how her day had gone, if she'd returned to the hotel safely or not, when he heard the soft knock at the door, and a hiss,  
  
"Gordo!" another knock, "GORDO!"  
  
He jumped from his seat on the bed and pulled open the door, only to be thrust back in the room again by Lizzie.  
  
It had shocked the heck out of him, but he moved quickly out of her way, and sat down on the edge of Ethan's bed, and she plopped down on the edge of his.  
  
After listening to Lizzie's explanation of the afternoon's events, he opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again...what do you say to this? He thought, I mean this is not something you're expected to reply to everyday...  
  
"You, YOU-Lizzie McGuire are going to present an award at the IMVAs?"  
  
"No, me-Isabella."  
  
Gordo looked confused.  
  
"Well, I want to help out Paulo, and really Gordo he's such a nice guy."  
  
He looked at her, feeling sort of unsure what to say next...this whole thing and left him so confused.  
  
"I mean he's so good, and so kind. For someone who has gotten everything his whole life, he's really very sweet."  
  
His stomach dropped, "For real?" he asked, "That's a lot for someone you've only known a day."  
  
"Yeah, Gordo I know, but he seems to really like me, and he promised he would teach me everything I need to know..." she got up from the bed, "Oh, I had the most wonderful day, and I could have never done it without you." She leaned over and pulled his face towards hers, her hands intertwined in his mop of brown curls, she kissed him gently on the forehead, "You're such a good friend!" she hurried out the door and into the hallway, closing it soundly behind her.  
  
"That good, huh?" he muttered, insides wriggling at his own spineless, and pathetic efforts at telling her how he felt.  
  
"The sting." came a smooth voice from behind him.  
  
Gordo turned around to see Ethan, arms crossed, leaning against the bathroom door-frame.  
  
"What?" asked Gordo. He hated conversations with Ethan...he was just so...duuuuuhhhh.  
  
"That's what you're vibeing here from Lizzie." Ethan explained.  
  
Gordo raised an eye-brow, "See, this is why we aren't friends, I don't know what you're talking about.  
  
"You see Gordon, there are two ways of getting to a lady, there's the sting, and the approach. That Paulo dude? Major approach." Ethan said knowledgably as he sat down on the edge of his bed.  
  
Gordo had turned away, and was packing a few things in his bag for tomorrow. "I don't believe this..." he cried, shaking his head disgustedly, "I can actually feel my brain turning to goo."  
  
"But the sting, that's what most guys get, and that's what you're getting from Lizzie."  
  
"No, no. See that's where you're wrong." Gordo backed away from Ethan, waving his hands, "See that would mean that I liked Lizzie...as more than a friend."  
  
Ethan gave a knowing nod, and said, "Word." Gordo snickered.  
  
"You're wrong man..." and he shut himself in the bathroom.  
  
But he stopped for a second, and looked into the mirror. Saw his dark hair, his blue eyes, long thin nose, and pale skin.  
  
If only he looked more like Paulo.  
  
--  
  
Gordo looked over at the sleeping head on his shoulder...and wondered, did he still have that magazine with her on the front cover, her sweet semi- smile, as Paulo leaned over and kissed her white hand?  
  
--  
  
Ungermeyer flashed him another look as she set off in the direction of an espresso stand, and Gordo had turned away, leafing through his book on Rome, when suddenly something caught his eye, it was a magazine, held by two Italian girls, chatting away, a picture of someone very familiar on it.  
  
"Oh nice spot bro!" Ethan beamed, "Okay now, 'slow curve'..." he turned towards the table with souvenirs and clutching his skate-board turned around real carefully, "works every time."  
  
"I've gotta go talk to them." He'd answered closing his book and putting it under his arm, dashing over.  
  
"No dude! They come to us!" He heard Ethan shout, but he ignored him.  
  
"Er...ciao?" He asked meekly, as the two girls gave him the once over, and said very disdainfully,  
  
"Ciao."  
  
"Do...do you speak English?" he asked tentatively, they obviously didn't care for him.  
  
"Yes," answered the blonder of the two, "But it is your friend we like."  
  
He glanced back, "Word."  
  
"Word?" the brunette asked, "Is that his name?"  
  
"Yeah, sure." Gordo answered distractedly. "Look, do you know who that is?" He pointed towards Lizzie and Paulo.  
  
"Paulo and Isabella!" they answered in unison, and then said something else in Italian which Gordo guessed was, 'They're so cool'  
  
"Do you think you guys could translate that for me?"  
  
"Only if you introduce us to...Word."  
  
That evening he'd bolted up the stair-way and down the hall to Lizzie's room, the magazine still clutched in his hand. He'd folded it over so no one could see who was on the cover, and knocked on the hard mahogany.  
  
A second later the door flew opened to show a usual brusque looking Kate, "Get lost, we're closed." She said beginning to shut him out.  
  
"I was hoping to talk to Lizzie." He answered standing on tip-toe to peer over her high shoulders into the room.  
  
"So talk." Kate replied.  
  
"I was thinking...outside...in...the courtyard?" He asked, hoping she'd cotton on.  
  
"If this is about the whole weird-alternate universe, Lizzie a major pop idol thing, then I already know." Kate answered testily.  
  
Gordo looked at Lizzie quizzically.  
  
"She figured it out!" Lizzie lied.  
  
"Evil AND smart." He said, raising his eye-brows and nodding at Kate as if to say, 'Brava'.  
  
"Embrace it, fear it." She answered simply as he entered the room.  
  
Gordo opened the magazine to show to Lizzie.  
  
There was a sudden screech of giggles as Kate and Lizzie both snatched for it.  
  
"I'm on the front cover of a tabloid!" she shrieked.  
  
"Do you know what that says?" But Lizzie obviously wasn't paying any attention; she was leafing through in sheer joy. "It says that Paulo and Isabella are going to SING at the IMVAs."  
  
"So?" Lizzie asked.  
  
"So?" asked Gordo, "Did he say anything about this?"  
  
"No it probably just came up." She answered, still fully occupied by the many color photos and unknown words.  
  
"But...don't they plan this stuff, like...months in advance?" He asked.  
  
"Since when did you become such an expert on Italian award show thingies?" Lizzie asked exasperatedly.  
  
"It's called common sense Lizzie!" he snapped, "Which I happen to have a lot of...to make up for my lack of...'slow curve'." He muttered darkly.  
  
"What?" asked Kate, giving him a 'you're such a dork' look.  
  
"Nothing..." He sighed, "Look if you want to believe some guy that you've only known one day, just because he's an internationally famous pop-star and has good hair, go right ahead. But there's just something not right about him." Gordo turned and left in disgust.  
  
Why was she being so stubborn? He mused as he went into his room...heart sinking so low he could never reach it.  
  
Ten minutes later he heard the sound of familiar voices outside, and there she was, talking with that harmonizing-pretty boy, and then she crawled into his fancy European car and drove away.  
  
He didn't know what to think say or do. As he lay on his bed that evening, he just kept thinking about her. Her dark eyes, her blonde hair that shined even in the dimmest light, that smell she had, her laugh, her voice...it was like nothing in the world.  
  
Ethan had been reclining on his bed, reading comics, but had now commenced to gliding back and fourth, and back and fourth across the room on his skate-board.  
  
Tired of the endless sound of rolling wheels, Gordo left his room and headed up to the roof. Looking out over the evening-view of Rome, he saw fireworks exploding in the midnight sky.  
  
Damn-it!, he though...I should be sharing this with her.  
  
If she'd pulled out his heart, and thrown it to the lions at the coliseum it would have felt better. He loved her, with ever last inch of his soul. Why couldn't she see that?  
  
Another burst of shimmering lights...as his heart broke into a million pieces.  
  
--  
  
Okay well yeah we all know where this is going, they're on the plane he's reminiscing, but I had just HAD to re-cap the story, from sort of his POV...so anyway.  
  
I hope you liked it.  
  
BTW if you get an e-mail from someone named "J Fo" that's me, and if you sign anonymously please leave you're e-mail, I like to reply to all my reviewers!!!!  
  
? Jenny ? 


	3. Happiness is no Mystery

New chapie!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Lizzie McGuire...do wish I owned Adam though...  
  
Chapter 3: Happiness is no Mystery  
  
--  
  
Yeah that part of the trip had been devastating...he sighed and glanced over, her light eyes fluttered open, and she looked up and smiled.  
  
"How long have I been sleeping?" Lizzie asked groggily, lifting her head of his shoulder, and leaning back in her seat.  
  
"For about..." he glanced at his watch, "three hours."  
  
"Wow...and I'm still sleepy." She looked away, saw her parents sitting a few seats back, Matt squished in between them, looking miserable. Lizzie looked back at Gordo, he wasn't staring at her, or giving her googley eyes, he was looking at her they way he always did. But she noticed that there was something different. There was a love in his eyes she should have seen a million times before. But she was too stupid, too blind...too shallow to realize it.  
  
He looked away for a minute, out the window, the morning after those fire- works, she was hiding underneath of a rolling tray, and he was left to cover for her...again.  
  
"Alright everyone!" barked Ungermeyer, "Let's head out!" But she stopped, "Hold up. Gotta get these apricots up to McGuire."  
  
Well Gordon, think fast, he thought, and dived in front of his future- principal.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Gordon?" She asked sharply.  
  
"Uh...I was just thinking; I'm starting to agree with Ethan. We should definitely eat more spaghetti."  
  
"YOU ROCK MAN!" Ethan cried, punching the air with his fist.  
  
"Gordon is there something up there that you don't want me to see?" she demanded.  
  
"No, no, it's just-well, shouldn't we be going? I mean so much Roma, so little 'Tima'" He tapped his watch.  
  
Ungermeyer raised an eyebrow, "Gordon, go wait with the group." She went to move foreword, but he got in here way, she went to go around him, but suddenly he was there again, "You know," she began, still trying to outsmart Gordo's quick moves, "When I get up stairs..." she finally zoomed around him, "And I will, get upstairs," she walked into the elevator, jauntily, "I except to find Miss McGuire in her bed."  
  
Gordo dashed to the elevator doors, "She could be...in.the bathroom...or...something."  
  
"You know what I think?" cried Ungermeyer in disgust, "I think this was all a clever ruse to sneak out of this hotel!"  
  
A thought popped into Gordo's mind. "Yeah...it was." He turned away, and stared at the ground, forcing his face to look guilty.  
  
"It was?" Hah...wow she was right!  
  
"Yeah...it's just...Lizzie and I were talking about adventure...and I dunno. But look...Lizzie's upstairs, I'm the one who's been sneaking out."  
  
Ethan opened his mouth to say something, but Kate shook her head, eyes wide with fear...and realization.  
  
"You know what this means Gordon?" Ungermeyer asked, without a hint of pity in her voice.  
  
"That...I...shouldn't look to you for a college recommendation?" He answered, jokingly hitting her shoulder.  
  
"No...You should start looking for your suitcase, you're going home." She replied, looking very serious.  
  
Gordo's face fell, and staring at his feet, he went into the elevator sullenly. Miss Ungermeyer closed the second set of double doors, and Gordo hit a button for the first floor.  
  
"Pegged you from the beginning, David Gordon, sneaky little brownnoser with a hidden agenda."  
  
First Lizzie falls in love with some guy, and then I get sent thousands of miles away from her, he thought bitterly, leaning against the glass doors, dieing inside.  
  
"Love lifts up where we belong." Ethan whispered softly, as the class left a depressed Gordo behind to gather his things, for a long flight home.  
  
--  
  
So maybe that part had been worse...he wasn't even sure now.  
  
"Gordo?" Lizzie asked softly, "Is something wrong?" she touched his arm gently.  
  
He looked over, and smiled, "Nah, just remembering some stuff, that's all."  
  
"So...tell me about Isabella." Lizzie changed the subject.  
  
"What's to tell?" he asked.  
  
"Well, I mean, meeting her and stuff, how did you find her anyway?"  
  
"Well, I was at the airport..."  
  
Gordo sighed, his pass-port clutched tightly in his hand, he waited for the line in front of him to move.  
  
FLASH! A blinding bulb went off on the other side of the airport. He spotted a young woman, with long dark hair, entering through the sliding glass doors.  
  
Gordo did a double take; she looked a whole lot like someone he knew...  
  
"Signore?" Came a voice, it was the blonde woman, verifying pass-ports.  
  
She gave it the once over before stamping it, but Gordo was distracted...he couldn't get on that plane.  
  
He ran. Faster than he'd ever ran in his life, flying around a corner, spotting the woman, half-a-dozen people around her. She was holding a magazine...the very same tabloid that Gordo had brought for Lizzie. She kept waving it urgently in people's faces, shouting in Italian.  
  
He tried to run through the many body-guards surrounding her, but they weren't about to let him in.  
  
Well if he couldn't get through, he'd go under.  
  
"Do you know 'o this is?" He heard her demand in English, "'O is this girl? Can someone please tell me 'o this is!?"  
  
"I can!" Gordo cried from his place on the ground, "That's my friend, Lizzie McGuir-OH!"  
  
He was yanked out from between the many pairs of legs, and stood up.  
  
"Let 'im go! Let 'im go!" he heard the young woman shout, the Air-port security guards, let off their tight grip on his cotton shirt.  
  
"I demand that you tell me everything you know about thiz, thiz...Lizzie McGuire!" She stabbed a finger at Lizzie's blonde face on the magazine cover.  
  
"And I demand for you to tell me everything you know about this, Paulo Valasarri." Gordo replied, waving a finger at the back of Paulo's head, his perfect, dark black hair lying neat as a pin.  
  
"I left 'im, and all my thoughts of 'im on the island." She replied disgustedly.  
  
"Well you better get them back, because my friend is about to perform at the coliseum with him tonight."  
  
"WHAT!" There was a flash of light, as cameras started clicking near them. She grabbed him by the shirt collar. "We must talk in private, now."  
  
--  
  
"And that was it?" Lizzie asked.  
  
Gordo nodded.  
  
"Wow," she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Lizzie was dieing to ask him something, but she kept her mouth shut.  
  
"Something wrong?" he asked.  
  
"It's just..." she paused.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, didn't you say once that you liked the 'sophisticated European' types?" She glanced over.  
  
"Yeah...Lizzie that was a long time ago, when you were still trying to swoon Ethan...I mean...okay...where are you taking this?"  
  
"Well, didn't you also think that I should be more self-confident, and Isabella RADIATED self-confidence. She's foreign, she has an accent, she's rich... She's everything you'd ever want."  
  
Lizzie trailed off, staring at her lap.  
  
"You're right...what was I thinking!" Gordo cried, "I better go tell the pilot to turn this thing around!" he started to get up, and Lizzie looked at him, horrified.  
  
He began to laugh hysterically, before sitting back down in his seat.  
  
"GORDO THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Lizzie yelled, smacking him upside the head with her pillow.  
  
After a few moments he calmed down, and reaching over he touched her chin, "Lizzie, the reason I didn't pick her, was because she wasn't you. I love YOU, not Isabella. Sure you might have looked alike, but you, Lizzie McGuire, are the girl of my dreams, and you have been for quite sometime."  
  
She smiled, "Aww, Gordo really?"  
  
"Yeah. 'Sides, you're a better kisser."  
  
"Really?" she laughed, and then her eyes grew large, "YOU KISSED HER!" Lizzie boomed.  
  
He started to laugh again.  
  
"I don't know why I love you!" she cried.  
  
--  
  
Paulo disappeared onto the other side of the stage, looking back at her, with a re-assuring smile.  
  
"Lizzie!" she heard someone from behind call her name, and she spun around,  
  
"Gordo!" she cried, flinging her arms around his shoulders.  
  
He caught her in a half-unbalanced hug, his hands holding onto her bare back, arms wrapped around his neck, head buried in his shoulder. Under any other circumstances he wouldn't have minded, but right now this was an emergency.  
  
"Lizzie, no, not now I need to tell you something..." he began.  
  
"And I need to tell you something. Gordo I'm so sorry! I completely messed up your whole life, and what are you doing here anyway?" she was so high on the excitement, first of the press outside on the red-carpet, and now seeing her best friend back and in the flesh.  
  
"All of that doesn't matter right now, what matters is that Paulo's setting you up."  
  
"What? Gordo what are you talking about?" Lizzie was shocked that he would make such an accusation; After all Paulo was so good, and sweet...  
  
"No, actually, he's setting ME up." Came a thick Italian accent.  
  
Lizzie's jaw dropped, the girl in front of her was her twin, complete with nose, eyes, lips, cheeks and teeth. She even had the same height, shape...  
  
"Freaky, huh?" asked Gordo.  
  
"Way freaky," whispered Lizzie.  
  
"Way, WAY freaky." Isabella repeated.  
  
"Look, Lizzie that whole story, about the serious music and a newer career, that's ISABELLA'S story, Paulo's the one who lip-synchs."  
  
"Paulo's setting it up so that you'll make a fool of yourself tonight, and ruin my career." Isabella spat out the word 'Paulo' like it tasted badly.  
  
"What?" Lizzie stared, horrified, "Paulo would NEVER do this to me."  
  
"But he IS, Lizzie." Gordo shook his head, "This whole thing has been a giant scam."  
  
"I-I don't believe you." Lizzie answered, why was Gordo lying like this??  
  
"Lizzie, 'o are you going to believe?" Isabella demanded, "This boy," she pointed at Gordo, "that you've know you're 'ole life, or 'IM, who says..." she paused, "Who says, 'You shine like the light from the sun'?"  
  
Lizzie looked across the stage, to where Paulo was being fussed over by numerous make-up and clothing assistants, a well dressed Sergei standing next to him.  
  
Paulo smiled at her, and gave a little wave.  
  
Oh my God...they were right...they were completely right...he didn't love her...it was all a scheme...he'd only been using her...to take care of his own selfish needs.  
  
"Okay," she felt like crying, "You're here now, so, so go sing."  
  
"But I am not blonde!" Isabella cried, exasperatedly. "Paulo will find out, and make an excuse to leave."  
  
"So what do we do?" asked Lizzie.  
  
"The only way we can get back at Paulo, is to make him sing, and REALLY sing." Isabella answered, a glint of anger in her eyes.  
  
"But how?"  
  
"Isabella!" It was her dressing-assistant, he was tugging at her arm, yelling at her in Italian.  
  
Isabella smiled, "I have a plan, but go, go get dressed, and don't worry! I'll take care of everything."  
  
Lizzie nervously nodded as she was pulled away to another wing, to get changed.  
  
"So...what's the plan?" asked Gordo.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Isabella shook her head, trying to think...and then suddenly smiled, rounding the corner to the sound board.  
  
"Did Paulo bring a sound-track for me tonight?" she demanded.  
  
"No, he says you are going to sing like you always do." The man who was in charge of the board answered, looking confused.  
  
"Turn down Isabella's mic." She cried.  
  
"What?"  
  
"TURN DOWN THE MIC!"  
  
The song had already started, and Paulo's crystal clear voice echoed through the spacious coliseum.  
  
"Have you ever seen such a beautiful night?"  
  
Lizzie was shaking, but opened her mouth to lip synch, just like Paulo had taught her...  
  
Isabella put on a head-set and just as Lizzie's part started, she began to sing.  
  
"I could almost kiss the stars, for shining so bright." Lizzie breathed a little easier, thank you Isabella!  
  
Paulo looked flabbergasted, but he continued singing, "Then I see you smile and I go..." but just then Paulo's mic was turned completely off, and his 'oh, oh ohs' were very off key.  
  
Isabella walked onto stage, with brisk confidence, and the crowd erupted joyfully.  
  
"I would never want to miss this...Sing to me Paulo," she demanded.  
  
Gordo covered his ears, "CaUssse Innnn my HeARt I KnoW what tHiS ISSssSSSSsss."  
  
Outraged, the large audience began screaming, Paulo, completely embarrassed, bolted off stage, leaving Isabella and Lizzie alone.  
  
"Okay..."whispered Lizzie, starting to head of stage, the silverish-purple dress rustling lightly as she went.  
  
"I would like all of you to meet my new American friend, LIZZIE MCGUIRE!" cried Isabella as the crowd roared with cheers. "Would you like to hear her sing?" she asked and there came more deafening applause.  
  
The music started up, a faster, poppier version.  
  
"Have you ever seen such a beautiful night?" Isabella sang, she nodded at Lizzie, and meekly at first, but soon her voice grew louder,  
  
"I could almost kiss the stars for shining so bright."  
  
Lizzie didn't have the world's greatest voice, but she sang right along with Isabella, their soprano voices intertwining, filling the giant theatre.  
  
But half way through Isabella turned and left the stage, leaving Lizzie alone, staring at the vast crowd.  
  
She froze, her heart beating so loud she couldn't breathe, Lizzie turned, attempting to flee, the layers of her dress rustling, she looked just like Cinderella, running from the ball.  
  
Gordo appeared off the wing, "STAY!" he mouthed, holding his hands up, "Go! Sing! You CAN do this."  
  
Inspired by Gordo's faith in her, Lizzie took a breath; she turned around, "Have you ever wondered what life is about? You could travel the world and never figure it out! You don't have to sail the oceans...No, No, Nooo." Lizzie looked over, "Happiness is no mystery it's here and now, it's you and me."  
  
He glanced out into the audience, the McGuires, Kate, Ethan, Ungermeyer and many of the others from the class trip were filling into the seats, moving in time to the music.  
  
"Then I see you smile," Lizzie caught his eye, and grinned widely, "And I go, OH, OH, OH!"  
  
He laughed, he'd felt like that for a long time...was she finally seeing him as something else? As the guy who would always be there for her, and not just as the best friend...but as so much more?  
  
"Hey now, hey now! This is what dreams are made of! Hey now, hey now, This is what dreams are made of, I've got somewhere I belong..." Her eyes darted over, and for a second she got lost in those pools of deep blue, "I've got somebody to love..."  
  
Yeah...maybe she did.  
  
--  
  
Something brushed his arm, snapping Gordo out of the memory, and there was Lizzie, sound asleep, again, on his shoulder.  
  
He rested his head on top of hers,  
  
~*~Happiness is no mystery, it's here and now... It's you and Me~*~  
  
--  
  
Well there you go.  
  
Short little fic I guess.  
  
*sigh*  
  
Jenny 


End file.
